Of dark magic and everyone's favourite Marauders
by Head-over-books
Summary: Quidditch Captain James Potter decides that the last thing he needs is a new girlfriend. Well, his friends have a slightly different opinion. What will happen when they try to put him up with a girl who has hurt him so many times already? Nothing good, especially with dark magic finding its way into Hogwarts. Marauders' Sixth Year fic. Lily/James centred but other pairings as well.
1. Chapter 1: Operation Limes

**AN: As it's my first HP fic (or first fic at all) there might be some mistakes so I apologise in advance and hope you'll enjoy it anyway! Plus I don't own Harry Potter or anything from Hogwarts universe you recognise! It's all J.K. Rowling's!**

CHAPTER 1. OPERATION LIMES

It was a warm September afternoon at Hogwarts and all of the students, taking advantage of the break between classes, were out on the school grounds, catching one of the last sunny days this autumn. Well, almost all of the students. Because Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were currently sitting in the girls bathroom on the second floor, the one nobody visited because of the Moaning Myrtle's ghost, listening to the Sirius's genius plan. Or at least Sirius claimed that his plan was genius, however, he still didn't explain it to the other Marauders (even though they had been sitting in the bathroom for fifteen minutes straight). He was only rambling on how important said plan was.

"I tell you! This plan will change the life of our beloved James once and for all" he shouted, slamming his hand on the stone floor for better effect.

"Undoubtedly" Remus commented dryly. "But could you please explain already what genius plan do you have in mind and why exactly have we been sitting in the girls bathroom for at least twenty minutes now?"

"Oh, Moonykins" Sirius sighed dramatically. "What has this innocent bathroom ever done to you?"

"Well" Remus sat straighter as he always did when he was about to give his fellow Marauders a scolding. "We are breaking the school rules…"

"Blah blah blah, the prefect thing, I know" Sirius interrupted him. "But what can I do? This bathroom is a perfect place for secret meetings!"

Remus moaned in exasperation and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Just stop calling me Moonykins and explain the damn plan already!"

Sirius was definitely beginning to make him lose his patience. After all, the fact that people rarely used this bathroom didn't mean that somebody couldn't walk in any second and see them. And they wouldn't have much to say in self-defence.

"Okay, okay, don't release your inner werewolf on me" Sirius raised his hands in surrender and cleared his throat theatrically for better effect (or at least he thought it had a better effect). "So, my dear friends, we have a problem. It's Prongs. He is ill. Very, very ill. He lost the will to do anything which doesn't involve Quidditch these days. Yesterday he even told me that he doesn't feel like pranking Snivellus! How can you _not_ feel like pranking Snivellus?! Therefore I announce that Prongs has lost his will to live…"

He paused dramatically and glanced at him friends. Both of them were staring at him, Peter in confusion mixed with slight fear and Remus shaking his head in disbelief.

"You're doing the exaggeration thing again, Sirius!"

"No, I am not" he crossed his arms defensively.

"Just go on" Remus urged him, glancing nervously at the door.

"So, I decided that we need to find James something else to focus on. More specifically, someone else to focus on."

Peter clapped his hands enthusiastically.

"We're getting James a pet, aren't we? I love pets!"

"I think that Sirius rather meant a girlfriend" Remus corrected him.

"Exactly, Moonykins, exactly! How did you know?"

"Let's just say I knew that snogging was somehow involved"

"Of course, snogging is always involved. It's the answer to everything" Sirius exclaimed.

Remus decided to leave this particular statement without a comment. Any argument with Sirius on the matter was just pointless.

"So.. do you have any specific girl in mind?"

"Of course I do!" Sirius announced with excitement. "Lily Evans"

The only thing that answered him was silence as the two Marauders were too shocked to respond. The only thing they could do was stare.

"It won't work. She hates him" Peter remarked.

"And he hates her" Remus added.

"Oh please they don't _hate_ each other. They _love_ each other. They just don't know about it yet. Well, at least Lily doesn't know because it seems that Prongs has just forgotten about this. Which is why we have to make them realise it."

"And how exactly are you going to achieve that?" asked Remus.

Sirius looked hurt at such a lack of support from his werewolf friend and was about to start complaining again but decided against it. He could always do it later. Right now the most important thing was James's love life (or lack of love life).

"The first thing we do is break into Flitwick's room and changing a couple of things" he said, rubbing his hands together like all of those villains from Muggle comic books which he once stole from Remus.

"And why is that?"

"I'm about to explain. This morning, when I was running late to the History of Magic and wondering what to do about our Prongs problem, I overheard a very interesting conversation between Flitwick and our beloved professor McGonagall. Speaking of McGonagall, don't you think that she is quite a hot chic. Who knows what she hides under that robe…"

Peter's eyes widened in fear.

"Please, Padfoot, spare us the details!"

"I have to agree" Remus said sternly. "We will not discuss your strange infatuation with a certain Head of House now"

"Don't get so fed up. I was only joking! Anyway, Flitwick plans some kind of a long-term project for Gryffindors and he is assigning the partners for us himself. And you know how absent-minded he can be. If we change something in his arraignment he won't even notice."

"And you want us to change it so that James and Lily would work together?" Remus guessed.

"I knew that you would eventually get to it" Sirius bellowed happily, patting Remus on the back in a friendly manner.

The poor boy wasn't expecting it at all and stumbled forward but after a moment regained his balance. He grimaced, still not very optimistic about this whole plan. He was sure that James wouldn't be so happy if he knew that they were meddling in his personal life, especially playing matchmakers for him and Lily. But on the other hand Sirius was right – James really seemed miserable and out of character these days.

"You know that we have ten minutes left till the lesson starts?" he asked Sirius, checking the hour on his watch.

"Crap, I didn't know it was so late. Well, let's go then. It's now or never!"

He jumped from the floor and sprinted through the bathroom door. Remus and Peter followed him at a much slower pace, having the common sense to make sure that there wasn't anyone in the corridor. Fortunately for their operation it was empty.

Finding the right place took them five minutes. When they finally got there, Sirius immediately reached for the doorknob.

"No!" Remus shouted and immediately looked around to make sure no one's heard before lowering his voice to a conspirational whisper. "Maybe let's agree on some kind of a plan first"

Two remaining Marauders stared at him blankly. Remus just sighed.

"Do you ever plan anything?"

They shook their heads which just made Remus sigh again.

"Take the Map and make sure that nobody is walking in our direction" he instructed Peter before turning to Sirius who has already managed to push the door open.

They sneaked into the room. It was rather small and very cluttered. Stacks of books and different instruments whose purpose they didn't know were laying on both the shelves and the floor. However, the Marauders knew exactly where they needed to look. They headed straight for the desk and started going through all the drawers. It was Sirius who eventually found the piece of parchment they were looking for. Judging by the number of doodles, crossings and arrows, the professor had quite a huge problem dividing them into pairs which meant that he wouldn't notice the changes they made anyway. Aware of how little time they had, Sirius and Remus started both scanning the parchment until they found the right names.

"Got it" Sirius shouted triumphantly, making Remus flinch and hope that Peter did his job as a guard well. "Lily Evans and Alice Prewett. James Potter and Frank Longbottom. Wait, what? Longbottom? Why didn't he pair Prongs up with me? We're the best match ever!"

"I seriously hope that you didn't mean it in the way it sounded" Remus said dryly. "Besides I think that he tried to match the troublemakers with the neat students who would somehow control their behaviour"

"Oh, Moony, if Flitwick thinks that you can control me he is so mistaken" Sirius added matter-of-factly as he noticed that their names figured on the parchment next to each other. "I'm the one who wears trousers in this relationship"

Remus was on the verge of losing his temper and he certainly didn't like Sirius implying that they were in any kind of relationship. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Just. Hurry. Up. Sirius."

Sirius just shrugged and with a wave of his wand changed the order of the names on Flitwick's list before putting the precious parchment back in the drawer. Urged by Remus, he quickly left the room and the three of them run in the direction of the Charms classroom. When they finally got there Sirius looked around to make sure there wasn't anyone eavesdropping.

"We did it!" he exclaimed, punching the air in front of him triumphantly.

"Indeed we did." Remus agreed although lacking Sirius's enthusiasm.

"You know what" Peter chimed in, wanting to be involved in the conversation. "We should name this operation"

Sirius looked at him with both pride and slight confusion as if he didn't believe that such an intelligent idea could come out of Peter's mouth. Not that he was the one to talk.

"This is the real Marauder spirit" he praised his friend. "I like that, Wormy, I like that! And about the name… Maybe Operation Get Lily and James together."

Remus rolled his eyes.

"Yes, because absolutely _no one_ is going to guess what we're trying to do"

"Of course they won't. I'm genius after all" said Sirius who apparently had problems with understanding sarcasm.

"Sirius, we're _not_ naming our operation that" Remus cut him off.

"Okay, what about… Limes?"

And then he burst out laughing as if he just told the best joke ever. Remus and Peter could only stare at him at confusion, not understanding what he was blabbering about.

"Can you explain what exactly limes have to do with our operation?"

Sirius scoffed as if his friends were total idiots.

"Limes. Lily and James. Limes. It's a blend of their names" he explained in a tone which clearly suggested that it was obvious.

"That's rather clever for you" Remus murmured but Sirius either didn't hear the comment or decided to simply ignore it.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Therefore I announce that the first phase of Operation Limes has just begun"

James Potter was going to Charms class in a good mood (or at least the best mood you can have while going to class). During the break he took a walk around school grounds and amused himself with pranking Slytherins by the lake. It was a bit boring alone but all of his friends were busy which was quite strange as he thought about but he didn't question their motives. Sirius had a meeting with some girl which we totally normal considering he was the biggest womanizer to ever walk the Hogwarts grounds. Remus said that he had to go to the library. Well, he literally lived there, it was his second home. Asked if he wants to accompany him, Peter murmured something about the Kitchens.

That was exactly why James was going to Charms alone but he didn't complain. He was too engrossed in his thoughts anyway. He was wondering whether the weather will worsen before the evening when they had Quidditch practice. He hoped not. He had a few new things to show to his team. Worried, he glanced out of the window. He didn't even notice when he bumped into someone, however, this someone did notice and apparently didn't like being bumped into.

"Maybe you would be as kind to look where you walk, Potter" hissed Lily Evans because unfortunately it was her.

"And maybe you would be as kind to be a little more careful" he mimicked her but his mind was still focused on Quidditch.

The comment seemed to only further enrage the redhead in front of him.

"Do I have to remind what it was _you_ who ran into _me_ , Potter?"

"You could have bypassed me" he pointed out.

"I don't see any reason why I should be the one to bypass the mighty James Potter only because he suddenly decided to daydream in the middle of the corridor"

"If you don't see the reason to bypass me, it's technically your fault so you can't bear any grudges against me"

"Oh, really?!"

And so on the argument continued and only stopped when the go to the Charms classroom. James sighed heavily. The redhead Evans was really getting on his nerves recently. Their arguments started back at the end of their Fifth Year at Hogwarts and continued after the summer break. Needless to say, it was so annoying many preferred when James was head over heels for Lily.

Professor Flitwick showed up the exact moment they got to the classroom. He opened the door with a quick spell (he was too short to reach the doorknob) and headed straight for his desk. Students started flowing into the classroom, sitting at their desks, talking, shuffling the chairs and taking out books. It was only after a few minutes that they finally fell silent. Flitwick patiently waited before starting his speech.

"In this semester I would like to start with a project about spells used by Healers. There are many of those and we never discussed them on the lessons before so you will need to do some research on your own. But don't worry, we will devote a few lessons to them as well. You will be working in pairs. The deadline will be somewhere at the end of October. Any questions?"

There were no hands raised so Flitwick took a piece of parchment out of the pocket of his robe and cleared his throat.

"Now I will read the pairs in which you will be working and I want you to sit together"

Then he started reading out the names. Frank Longbottom was supposed to work with Alice Prewett which seemed to elicit a great deal of excitement from the boy and a smile from the girl. Sirius and Remus had to work together. And then James stopped caring about anything around him as the professor read:

"James Potter and Lily Evans"

"WHAT?!"

He didn't even register than he shouted. He barely noticed the fact that everyone was staring at him with confusion as well. All of his attention was focused on Flitwick, hoping that it was all a big mistake. It must have been. He would cope with anyone but Evans.

The professor himself was a little taken aback as well. He didn't remember this particular pair. Nor did he understand why he chose Evans and Potter to work together since it was a well-known fact that they hated each other. But on the other hand, it wasn't more than an hour ago that he could swear that the piece of parchment with the names of students on it was in the left drawer of his desk when in fact he put it in the right one. He had a tendency to forget things. And if it was clearly stated on the parchment that Lily Evans and James Potter should work together, he definitely had a good reason to decide so.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Potter?" he asked.

James just ignored him, busy praying for it all to turn out to be just another nightmare. He even considered asking Sirius, who was sitting next to him with a fake sympathetic expression on his face, to pinch him.

"Is there a problem?" Flitwick repeated his question, now a little more impatiently. "Miss Evans?"

James glanced at Lily who was sitting at the desk on his right with one of her friends. She looked just as displeased with the arrangement as he was. However, she put herself together quickly and a stern expression appeared on her face.

"No sir" she said. "There's no problem at all"

Then she got up from her seat and collected all her books, quills and pieces of parchment. And then she walked to his desk, the stares of the whole class fixed on her, and sat on the empty chair next to him. Slamming her books on the desk _hard_.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Ally

**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the not-very-original plot.**

II. A NEW ALLY

Lily was under the impression that this particular Ancient Runes lesson was ridiculously long. She was impatiently drumming her fingers on the desk and glancing at clock every other minute, hoping that the bell would finally ring. Unfortunately it didn't help at all in focusing on the subject they were currently discussing. Ancient Runes - normally one of Lily's favourite subjects - today seemed to be unbearable. On the second thought everything seemed unbearable to her.

She rested her chin on her head and lost herself in her own thoughts. How was it possible that she was still annoyed by the unfortunate incident on Charms? After all it was only one project. Well, maybe she had such a bad luck that out of all Gryffindor students she was paired up with Potter but it wasn't the end of the world. Well, maybe it wasn't. Actually when she thought about all of the meetings, hours spent in the library and all of the other things they would have to do together it suddenly seemed like the end of the world.

Finally her thoughts were interrupted by the salutary bell ringing. Fortunately for her Ancient Runes were the last lesson today so she could just grab all her things, storm out of the classroom and run to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Mandragores" she murmured in the Fat Lady's direction who let her in although not without a great deal of complaining.

Lily just decided to ignore it. In fact she had every intention of passing the Common Room in a few steps and disappear in her dormitory for the rest of the day. Unfortunately for her plans, she suddenly noticed a pair of third years engrossed in some kind of magical duel. One of them had green hair and the other's ears were twice the normal size. Lily sighed. It was obvious that she couldn't just left them on their own since they could easily get injured. She took out her wand and with one swift move restoring the boys to their normal appearance. Then she gave them a warning and took ten points from Gryffindor. She was about to enter the stairs leading to her dormitory when three new people joined the group already occupying the Common Room. And of course they were Sirius, Peter and Remus. Lily was slightly surprised when she noticed that James wasn't with his fellow Marauders but she certainly didn't complain. She was about to continue her journey up the staircase when Sirius spotted her.

"Oi, Evans" he called from the other side of the Common Room.

She turned to him with the best glare she could muster.

"What do you want, Black?"

"No need to jump at me like that" Sirius chuckled at his own joke for which he got an elbow in the ribs from Remus. "I just wanted to ask how excited you are at the prospect of your, as I believe, successful work with our dear Prongs"

At first Lily had no idea what in the name of Merlin he was rambling about and it took her a while to realise that he meant Charms project. She momentarily became angry as he had absolutely no right to mock her like that.

"You think it's so funny, Black?" she asked in a dangerously low voice.

Sirius opened his mouth to answer her but Lily never got to know what he wanted to say as Remus chose this exactly moment to chime in.

"Enough, Sirius. Leave Lily alone. I'm getting an impression that she didn't have a lucky day today" he told his friend, at the same time dragging time to the stairs leading to their own dormitory. "Let's go find James."

Lily didn't listen to the rest of the conversation and instead run to her dormitory where she dropped her bag in the corner and jumped onto her bed. She was already angry and unfortunate meeting with the Marauders only made matters worse. She hid her face in the pillow. At least now she had some peace. Well, almost.

"Lily, everything okay?" she heard a voice from the other side of the dormitory.

Even without raising her head she knew perfectly well that it belonged to one of her best friends, Alice Prewett.

"No" she moaned into the pillow. "How could he be so cruel to do it to me?"

"Who again?"

"My uncle Brain" she replied sarcastically. "Flitwick, who else? We made me work with Potter. Oh sorry, I forgot that Potter is incapable of performing work of any kind"

"Don't you think that you're exaggerating a little bit?" her other friend, Jenny, joined the conversation. "I mean, his friends somehow don't have problems putting up with him."

Alice didn't say anything but her facial expression suggested that she thought that Lily was doing a lot of exaggeration. However, the redhead had a different opinion on the subject. She shot her friends a look full of disbelief as if they just said something crazy.

"Jenny, he's friends with Sirius Black, for god's sake. And he is just as bad."

"And what about Remus?" Alice pointed out.

"Well, he's an angel when it comes to patience" Lily replied uncertainly. "But anyone else in their right mind won't be able to work with Potter. And especially me. We're practically contradictions! We can't work together, it's just unhealthy."

"Ha!" Alice jumped on her bed and raised a finger. "And here I disagree with you. I think that you would make a perfect couple. You complement each other. He is full of crazy ideas, you rarely do something out of ordinary. He breaks the rules, you make sure other obey them. He loves Quidditch, you prefer to spend the whole days reading in the library. He…"

Her monologue was interrupted by Lily's loud groan.

"Stop! Just stop!" she put her hands over her ears, not wanting to hear any of this. "I get the point and you don't have to nag me about it. First Black, now you… What is wrong with you, people?!"

At the sound of Sirius' name Alice visibly perked up although Lily didn't even notice this as she was too busy slamming her head on the pillow in utter despair.

"And what did Black do again?"

"He was being an asshole as usual. And he called mine and Potter's work successful" Lily snorted just remembering this nonsense.

"An asshole indeed" Alice agreed with her although she was already busy thinking about something else. "Okay, Lily, however lovely it was talking about your relationship with Potter, I have a Transfiguration essay which wouldn't just write itself, would it? I'm going to the library, maybe I'll find some inspiration there. See you later and don't panic too much!"

She swung her bag over her shoulder and waved to her friends cheerfully, exiting the dorm. Jenny also lost interest in the conversation which without Alice didn't have much sense whatsoever and went back to one of her magazines. Lily just sighed again. She felt that it was going to be a very long few months.

Remus was entirely sure that he was very close to losing his patience. Maybe Sirius wasn't the most intelligent person ever but even he should know better than to undermine other people's intelligence, especially if those people were as bright as Lily. Clearly, his sudden interest in her and James's project was too suspicious for it all just to be a coincidence. Thank god, he managed to pull Sirius away from Lily before she started realising that something was wrong. He dragged his friends to the corner of the Common Room which was a secluded spot in which no one will be able to eavesdrop on them.

"Have you gone nuts, Padfoot?" he scolded Sirius the moment they were out of hearing. "Lily's not an idiot. And with you interest in this whole Charms thing she will know that we had something to do with it! And we don't want that"

Sirius made an attempt to look sorry but failed miserably.

"But her expression was priceless" he tried to defend himself. "And at least now we know what Lily's attitude to working with Prongs is"

"But I already told you that she hated him" Peter pointed out, proud of being right for once and hoping that Sirius would appreciate it."

Too bad that Sirius didn't seem to appreciate it at all.

"Wormtail" he hissed. "You're undermining my authority again and I precisely told you not to do that!"

Remus scoffed at that and shook his head. As if Sirius ever had any authority anywhere and with anyone. Especially in the moments like this when he was only unbearable.

"I'm with Peter on this one" he announced. "We knew perfectly well that Lily hates James, she always did, and everyone tried to get this idea across to you and it's not our fault that you just won't bloody listen"

"How can you say something like this, Moony?" Sirius gasped, clutching his chest. "You're breaking my heart. Not to mention that you're undermining my authority which is precisely what I told you…"

"Not to do" Remus finished for him, rolling his eyes. "Whatever."

"Oi, why do you have to be so mad? It's not like something bad happened."

Remus raised his hands to the skies.

"No, luckily it didn't. But think about the consequences. Consequences, Sirius. What if Lily figured this whole thing out and told James? He would kill us! Speaking of James, we really need to find him. Come on."

Remus decided that the best place start was their own dormitory so he headed straight there, two boys on his tail. Two boys out of which one, namely Sirius, was still complaining. The werewolf sighed, trying to compose his thoughts which with Padfoot's cries of how nobody loved him was not the easiest task. It was far too quiet in the dormitory for James to be there because the boy had a strange habit of breaking things when he was angry. And Remus didn't like that at all. Because where else could James go?

But when they opened the door to their dormitory, they discovered that James was indeed there. He stood in the middle of the mess of empty Butterbeer bottles, old pieces of parchment and various clothes and appeared to be absorbed in cleaning it all. It was so unusual that all the Marauders just stood there, mouth agape, staring at him in shock. Even Sirius stopped talking bur only for a little while.

"Prongsie!" he shouted in horror. "Are you ill?! You're cleaning! And you even made up your bed! Are you sure that you don't have a fever or anything?"

It was only then that James noticed his three friends crowded in the doorway. He turned to them with a very serious expression on his face. He was holding one of his white shirts probably picked up from the floor.

"I don't have a fever" she stated. "I have a depression"

He turned his attention to the chest of drawers and put a neatly folded shirt inside. Sirius, Remus and Peter exchanged worried glances. Remus was the first to say something.

"James" he said nicely but in a firm voice suggesting that arguing was not an option. "Sit down for a moment and tell us what the problem is."

James obediently plopped down on his bed, the long forgotten shirt still in his hands. He looked rather miserable.

"The problem is rather obvious" he stated, looking at his friends expectantly but they didn't seem to catch a hint and just stared at him blankly so he decide to be more precise. "Hello? Me and Evans? Charms project? Have you already forgotten?"

"James, you don't need to wave your hands in front of our eyes" Remus said, sounding not amused at all. "We get it. However, I think that you're exaggerating a little bit. Sure, Lily practically hates you which can makes things difficult at times but she's really not _that_ bad. I had a patrol with her once or twice. She can be kind of… nice even."

" _Nice_?!" James shouted, jumping up and starting to walk around the dormitory. "Lily Evans is anything _but_ nice! There wasn't one conversation between us which didn't end in an argument. It's her fucking redhead temper!"

Peter sympathetically patted James on the shoulder as the boy stormed past him in yet another circle around the room.

"Maybe it's not her temper but the fact she just really doesn't like you"

The comment was apparently meant to lift up James's spirits but clearly failed to do so as said Marauder only put his head in his hands and groaned. The rest exchanged worried glances.

"But Prongsie" Sirius exclaimed cheerfully, trying a different approach. "I won't say that that Evans doesn't hate you but she is kinda hot too. It is a good thing, right?"

He stopped when Remus shot him a glare clearly telling to shut the fuck up as he was not helping at all.

"You're barking mad, Padfoot" James murmured.

"And how about you make an effort, James?" Remus asked tiredly.

"An effort?" James echoed. "Like to do what? Beg for her forgiveness for whatever I did to make her hate me so much?"

"Maybe she hates because you've been asking her out every other day for fucking five years, mate?" Sirius suggested and James shot him a deathly look.

"Actually" Remus clarified dryly. "I meant making an effort to actually work with her. I know that he hates you, James, but she had a reason to… Good god, James, stop pacing! Anyway… You really used to behave like an arrogant berk in the past and even though you changed during the holidays Lily can't see it as the only thing you do is snap at her."

James finally stopped in his tracks. He considered Remus's words for a second and came to the conclusion that his friend might have a point if only he didn't choose this exact moment to add:

"Besides, apologising to her also wouldn't hurt you, James."

"No fucking way!" James shouted, clearly offended. "I'm James Potter! I don't apologise, let alone beg for anyone's forgiveness."

"Maybe an apologetic snog would be better?" Sirius suggested.

James looked at him in disbelief, every passing minute more and more convinced that his theory about Sirius being barking mad wasn't that far from the truth.

"No" Remus said in horror. "Don't do anything that Sirius's perverted mind has made up!"

"I'm not that perverted" Sirius said in defence. "There's nothing perverted about snogging. Sodding werewolf!"

His voice was so offended that it made all the others, even James, laugh out in disbelief.

"Hi, Alice"

Alice Prewett jumped up at the voice which literally came out of nowhere, disturbing her thoughts. She was standing in the middle of the corridor, trying to figure out which door led to the Marauders' dormitory. Honestly, couldn't boys put some kind of tags on them?

"I'm sorry if I scared you" the voice said again from behind her back.

Alice turned around and, just as she was expecting, stood eye to eye with Frank Longbottom. She smiled at him with that special smile reserved only for people she particularly liked and she had to admit she was quite fond of the shy sweet boy in front of her.

"Don't mention it" she replied nonchalantly with a wave of her hand. "And hello to you too, Frank."

He returned her smile.

"Anyway… can you tell me which dorm belongs to the Marauders?" she asked hopefully.

She could swear that she saw a flash of disappointment in his eyes but he very quickly hid it.

"Oh, so you came to see them" he said coldly. "It the one behind you"

"Thanks" Alice said but he had already turned on his heel and walked away.

He didn't even say goodbye to her which made Alice think if she had done anything to upset him. However, she had no idea what it might have been so she just shrugged and knocked on the door. It was Remus who answered her.

"Oh, hi, Alice, nice to see you here" he greeted her politely and indeed, he sounded as if he was pleasantly surprised by her visit. "Any particular reason you are here?"

"Actually I was hoping I could talk to Black" she said.

At the sound of his name Sirius's head suddenly appeared over his friend's shoulder.

"Did anyone just call my name?" he asked theatrically, ruffling his hair in true James Potter fashion which just made Remus and Alice roll their eyes simultaneously.

"O, Prewett" Sirius acknowledged the girl in front of him. "Do you want to go on a date with me or something? Because I know some pretty good snogging spots"

"Bet you do" Remus mattered under his breath. "Anyway, I'm going to leave you two"

Before any of them could protest, he slammed the door in their faces. Alice wasted no time to drag Sirius down the staircase and into the Common Room where she sat on one of the couches and motioned to the spot opposite her which Sirius gladly took.

"Now, will you finally tell me why you dragged me here?" he asked.

"I wanted to talk"

"Well, then you probably should have come to Moony. He's the one to talk, I'm the one to snog. Simple as that"

"Whatever you say" Alice joked but then put on a more serious expression. "Anyway, I wanted to talk about Lily"

Sirius cocked his head to the side, implying that he didn't get what Alice was talking about. What did she want from him? He didn't have any contact with Lily. The redhead seemed to have hated him since day one.

"I don't know anything about Lily" he shrugged. "You are friends with her, not me"

Alice looked at him with an amused expression and raised one eyebrow (Sirius still didn't know how she managed to do that).

"So it's a total coincidence that James and Lily are doing their Charms project together, right?"

Sirius didn't know how she managed to work out that they had something to do with it but he decided that it would be better if he didn't directly confirm that.

"Well, you're asking the wrong person" he joked. "You should go to Flitwick"

"Cut the crap, Black. I know that the three of you are up to something."

So after she knew. Sirius decided that it was too late to play dumb and time to use his personal charm to convince Alice that they were doing the right thing.

"We're not doing anything wrong. We just want to…'

"Get them together?" Alice asked in a voice which was, much to Sirius's relief, rather amused than angry.

"Please, don't tell Flitwick" he made his best puppy face at her. "It's for James's own good. And Lily's too. Really. Believe me"

Alice just smiled and shook her head.

"What makes you think that I would tell Flitwick?"

"So you won't?" he asked hopefully, suddenly hopeful again.

She nodded.

"And you won't tell Lily either?"

She nodded again and smiled even wider. It was only after a while that she spoke again.

"I won't tell anyone. But…"

Mental triumph which Sirius was experiencing suddenly died down. Maybe his persuasion skills weren't quite as good as he thought.

"In exchange you need to let me join you"

 **Alice is in the game! And yes, I will be focusing a little on Frank/Alice romance as they're totally adorable. Also, I'm leaving tomorrow so I won't post anything in the next few weeks :( Sorry**


	3. Chapter 3: When everyone is in Hogsmeade

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Harry Potter universe.**

III. WHEN EVERYONE IS IN HOGSMEADE…

Ever since Flitwick announced the pairs in which Gryffindors will be working during the project Lily and James stubbornly refused to speak to each other. Even when they met in the school corridors they just pretended to look in different directions and not notice anything. They didn't even argue anymore. It was just as if this two had some kind of silent agreement - they lived their own lives in peace and didn't disturb each other.

This met with huge disapproval from the teachers who, after learning about the project, hoped that it would not only be a chance for students to broaden their knowledge about the healing spells but also for teamwork. They simply couldn't understand - and it irritated them to no end - why this didn't work in case of James Potter and Lily Evans. However, nothing seemed to work in case of James Potter and Lily Evans. Involuntarily those two became subjects of many discussions held in the teachers' room. Only Dumbledore didn't seem keen to express his opinion on the matter, sitting silently in his favourite chair and sipping tea with a knowing smile on his face.

Teachers weren't the only frustrated ones. The current situation wasn't what Remus, Sirius, Peter and Alice hoped for. And they couldn't understand why their plan was failing miserably. After almost a month of watching Lily and James closely they were sure of that. They resorted of all sort of tricks such as Alice taking Lily's attention on purpose just so they would bump into James and the rest of the Marauders. But it didn't change anything. The two still seemed determined on not speaking to each other. The Marauders jumped to different kinds of conclusions as to why they behaved in such a way. Remus even put forward the hypothesis that they were all wrong and Lily and James weren't meant for each other after all. However, Alice convinced him that they just needed to take a completely new approach and give the couple some time. But after three weeks even she admitted that they've had enough time. And not only did they refuse to talk but also didn't even start their Charms project. And it was October already.

So when a Hogsmeade trip was announced, Alice decided that it was a perfect time to take action. Others couldn't agree more.

On Friday afternoon, just before the trip, Alice walked into the dormitory. She had a really good day and was humming a cheerful tune to herself. Lily was already in the room, working on something, probably the essay for Transfiguration which was due Monday. Alice cringed at the thought of that very same assignment just waiting for here. She would eventually sit down to it, now there were more pressing matters to take care of. She plopped down on her bed, still keeping an eye on her friend.

"Hey, Lils" she exclaimed probably a little too cheerfully as Lily gave her a weird look. "What's up?"

"Oh, just the usual" Lily replied casually, brushing a strand of her red hair behind her ear.

Once again she turned her attention to scribbling something on the piece of parchment. Alice smirked.

"I was just wondering... if you could just lend me some of your and Potter's notes for the Charms project. Frank and I are both bright plus we have Remus but we can't compare to you genius. I bet you must be finishing by now."

Lily tensed and slowly put the quill down. Looking at her, Alice smirked again as she knew the state of Lily and James's project perfectly.

"What do you mean you have Remus?" Lily asked both to change the subject and because she was curious.

"Oh, haven't you heard. We're finding the information together with Remus and Sirius. It's much more fun with them. For example yesterday we were making a list of all the spells we might include and eating pumpkin pasties. I still don't know where they got those from but I'm not complaining!"

Lily stared at her, completely bewildered, trying to process all the new information. She couldn't believe that Alice was joining forced with Sirius and Remus of all people.

"But they're Marauders" she protested.

Alice just shrugged.

"So what? I told you, they're fun. And they're really good to work with, even Sirius. Anyway, what about those notes?"

"We don't have anything, okay?!" Lily exploded. "Not a single spell!"

"It's not very surprising as you've been avoiding Potter for three weeks straight" Alice noticed.

"I have not been avoiding him" Lily tried to defend herself. "Just... how is it possible that you are able to work with all of them, even Black, but I can't handle one Potter?!"

Alice looked at her friend, trying hard not to laugh out loud. Lily sometimes really liked dramatizing, especially when it came to James.

"You know what, Lily" Alice said truthfully. "I think that the blame is also on you. Maybe just try and have a civil conversation with him for once. Tomorrow is your chance. Instead of going to Hogsmeade, you can just stay in a nice quiet castle and work on your project. If it doesn't work out... Well, you can at least say that you tried."

Lily considered her friend's words for a while. Normally she wouldn't be willing to listen to the advice she just received but it was after all Alice who was currently successfully working with both Remus and Sirius.

"You know what?" she said. "You're right"

She got up and stormed out of their dormitory. The next thing Alice heard was her voice from the Common Room where she must have cornered James while he was sitting there with his friends.

"Tomorrow, Potter, we' re doing our project" she heard Lily announce. "And I don't want to hear any complaints"

Alice sighed to herself.

 _Yes_ she thought to herself. _We've got a long way to go._

With a satisfied smile she sat down at her desk and took out the Transfiguration textbook.

James Potter was staring at the back of a particular redhead as she turned on her heel and walked back to her dormitory. He couldn't say that he liked the way Lily Evans, of all people, was bossing him around. She behaved as though it was _his_ fault they were doing this damn project together.

"Great, just great" he commented. "So what the fuck am I supposed to do now?"

He looked expectantly at his three friends sitting beside him, waiting for them to come up with some brilliant ideas. Sirius just shrugged in response and motioned to Remus, clearly suggesting that it was his job to think. The werewolf just sighed.

"How about the advice I gave a month ago?" he asked. "About making an effort?"

James scoffed.

"How can I make an effort here? Maybe I should stare harder at the books. This is sooo going to help" he said sarcastically.

Remus considered his words for a second and decided that James actually had a point. This wasn't going to impress Lily in any way unless…

"And why don't you come prepared?" he suggested. "You know, don't just rush there with your careless attitude and let Lily do all the job. Bring some notes or something"

"The only problem is that Prongs doesn't _have_ any notes. He doesn't make notes" Sirius reminded them. "You're the smart one, Moony, you make notes"

Remus just ruled the idea out as it was obvious that James wasn't in possession of any notes on the healing spells and was about to roll his eyes at Sirius for his last comment when it struck him. For once in his life Padfoot actually did have a point! He started rummaging through his pockets, hoping the find that one piece of parchment which just must have been there.

"Ha!" she shouted, raising the find high in the air. "I've found it."

"What exactly is it?"

"This, James" he explained. "are your notes for tomorrow's learning session with Lily. This was actually the first draft of the list of spells we wanted to include in our projects and we made quite a lot of amendments over time but I think this will do anyway. Now… you go there give Lily the parchment and say something intelligent"

James broke into a grin and punched Remus on the arm to show his gratitude.

"Sounds like a plan. Thank you, Moony, you're a genius"

"Don't mention it" Remus said nonchalantly but nevertheless he looked quite pleased with himself.

The sun flowing through the window of the dormitory woke Lily up. She turned around in her bed so that she now faced the wall and closed her eyes tighter. She really didn't want to get up yet. Alice's idea to work on the Charms project with James Potter today seemed much less brilliant now. To be honest, Lily didn't even know what on earth possessed her to agree to that. Maybe it was the fact that Alice could work with everyone so well. Oh yes, Lily was jealous although she probably wouldn't admit it even to herself.

She lazily opened one eye and glanced at the nearby watch. Which made her jump out of bed and run to the bathroom as fast as she could. It was already midday which meant she had little time left before her meeting with James. Why didn't Alice and Jane wake her earlier? She could only thank god that she wasn't one of those girls who needed hours to get ready for the day. It wasn't even ten minutes before she was sprinting down the staircase, her bag full of books on the healing spells, quills and rolls of parchment.

Potter was already there, sitting by the fireplace and reading a book. He had changed from his school robes and into a simple Muggle shirt with stripes on it and jeans. He didn't notice her at first so she creeped behind him and tilted her head so she could she the title of the book. _Quidditch through the Ages._ Well, not that it was anything surprising. Suddenly James noticed her.

"Ah, Evans, I already started to think that you're not going to show up" he said. "So… where are we going?"

"Library" she replied without a second thought.

Library was the answer to all the problems. You could find additional materials there plus it was Lily's favourite place to study. It was so quiet and peaceful, no other place in Hogwarts could compare to it. And it smelled of old books which In Lily's opinion was the best smell in the world. She inhaled deeply as soon as they got there and dragged James to her favourite spot by the window.

"Okay, so what do we start with?" she asked James, putting out her quill.

In response James threw a piece of parchment onto a table between them. Lily eyed it carefully as if she expected it to suddenly explode.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Notes. I read a little bit about all those healing spells" he shrugged seeing her curious look. "And don't have to look at me like that. Contrary to all the popular beliefs I also study. Sometimes"

Lily lowered her gaze to stare at the table in front of her. She didn't really feel right with the way she treated James. Maybe Alice was right saying that Lily was a little biased against him. Sure, he didn't spend all day hovering over books but that didn't mean that he never in his life opened a textbook. This was a conclusion she drew herself and it turn out to be wrong.

Wanting to occupy herself with something, she reached for the piece of parchment and scanned it. It was a detailed list of all the healing spells she knew and even some she had no idea about. It didn't really contain much information but it was a good start nonetheless.

"I'm sorry" she mumbled, not meeting James's eyes.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for" he assured her cheerfully. "It's not as if I've taken an unusually big liking to books and studying. I prefer Quidditch"

Lily smiled at him uncertainly.

"Well, that was quite an impressing bit of learning if you ask me"

Suddenly James stopped rocking on the chair and looked at her with a shocked expression. For the slightest moment Lily saw the third year boy who would just do everything for Lily to appreciate him but then James's expression was business-like again.

"So… what now?" James asked to change the subject. "Should we look for some books?"

Lily almost nodded but then she remembered the stack of her own books that were still in her bag, waiting to be used.

"Actually I think that I have something that might help us" she said and stared taking out all sorts of textbooks, encyclopaedias and dictionaries.

James could only stare at the impressive pile next to him with disbelief but at the same time slight amusement.

"Quite a collection you've got here" he commented.

"Well, I'm considering the career of the Healer after I leave Hogwarts"

Lily didn't even know why she shared this piece of personal information with him but James just nodded, clearly lost in his own thoughts. Maybe about his own career.

"Okay, now, what's the first spell on the list..."

And it started. They spent the next few hours going through all the possible textbooks for all the possible classes and tons of other books with had anything to do with healing and making notes. Exactly at five p.m. Lily dropped her quill and stretched her arms. Flitwick certainly wasn't joking when he said that the projects wasn't going to be easy. They were only in the middle of the list and they have been working really hard.

"No way, we're doing anything else today" she announced to James. "I'm just too tired"

"Good for you" he said, secretly thankful that she decided to end this torture. "Another page and I think that my eyes will just flow out"

Lily smirked at the comment as she started to pack all the parchment, quills and books while James was putting all the stuff they got from the library back on the shelves under the careful eye of Miss. Pince, the librarian, who clearly didn't trust him with her precious books. As soon as they were ready, Lily stormed out of the library with the intention of going to her dormitory and thinking _anything_ suitable to eat. Her last meal was the Friday dinner and she was starving.

"What are you doing for the rest of the day, Evans?"

She nearly jumped at James's voice as she totally forgot that she was still there.

"I'm going to my dormitory and finding something eatable as I missed breakfast _and_ dinner today. And what about you, Potter?"

"Well, now that you mention it" James said. "I'm quite hungry myself. Maybe I'll take a little trip to the kitchen…"

"Wait, you know how to get to the kitchen?" Lily asked in disbelief.

"Course I do. I'm a Marauder after all. We just know this sort of things."

Suddenly James grabbed Lily's hand, catching her of guard and pulled her down the corridor.

"Wait, Potter, where are we going?"

"You said you were hungry so I thought I'll take you with me" he explained.

Lily considered the potential risks of such a trip. She wasn't really sure that they were allowed to visit the Hogwarts kitchen but on the other hand there was hardly anyone in the castle today, they won't get caught. And there was always the lure of a delicious dinner cooked by the House Elves which was definitely billion times better than remains of sweets Lily could find in her dormitory.

So she let James drag her through the empty corridors, dropping Lily's things in the Gryffindor Common Room when they were passing it. Then they made their way to the ground floor where James stopped in front of the large painting with a bowl of fruit on it. Lily instantly got sceptical. She was there thousands of times and she never saw the sign of kitchen. Maybe it was just another prank. She opened her mouth to yell at him but stopped when the painting swung open revealing a dark narrow corridor. Lily stepped into it, not entirely sure that she did the right thing when the painting swung back, shutting them in darkness. She let out a surprised yelp.

"Go ahead" she heard James's voice somewhere behind her back.

"Okay, Potter, I will" she said in a threatening voice. "If it is another one of your stupid jokes I swear that I will hex you to Hogsmeade and back and you won't be able to walk for a week"

James just laughed. Lily took a step, then another one and soon enough she was walking quite fast through the corridor. It was getting more narrow and shorter every second so finally they resorted to walking on their hands and knees. Lily didn't have really good feelings about the state of her clothes.

Finally, after what felt like eternity, Lily saw light in front of them. She fastened her pace and soon enough she was gazing through a hole in the kitchen wall, just below the ceiling. Underneath there were thousands of House Elves. Gracefully, Lily swung her legs over the side of the hole and jumped down, followed closely by James. They were immediately noticed by one of the Elves.

"Mr. Potter" he squeaked, sounding absolutely delighted. "It's a pleasure to see you, sir. What can we do for you, sir?"

"Nice seeing you too" James acknowledged the creature. "We would like something to eat if it's not a problem, sir."

"Oh, it's not a problem, not a problem at all" the Elf said and bowed, disappearing in the crowd of others.

James took Lily by hand and led her to a small table for two in the corner of the room which she didn't notice before. She rested her head on her hand and stared at the working Elves. It was quite fascinating, being in a Hogwarts kitchen. Once she was glad that the Marauders knew all the castle's secrets and that James decided to share some of his knowledge with her.

After a meal of baked vegetables, delicious turkey and chocolate cake looking so glorious that Lily still quite regretted that she had eaten it they decided to go back to the Gryffindor Tower as it starting to get late. Lily was about to walk through the portrait hole when James grabbed her hand again. She looked at him in question.

"It was a great day" he said. "Thanks, Evans"

And then he walked past her and disappeared in the Common Room.

 **AN: Don't worry, James and Lily won't become a couple for the next couple of (or more) chapters. And I'm back which means that I will probably post more regularly. Yey!**


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